Friday, December 23, 2011

Merry Christmas Friends!I have so many beautiful things to share with you!First I wanted to share the beautiful ornaments and tag I received from Lisa at Belles Roses Romantiques when we participated in a Christmas ornament swap. My favorite is the round ball with the pink ribbon roses because it is so feminine and sweet! I also love the tag with the beautiful bird and silver glitter she used - just beautiful!!! If you would like to see the ornament I made her, please check out her blog here. Thank you to Debi for hosting this fun ornament swap!

Next I wanted to share the yummy (and so easy) recipe for peppermint sugar cookies I made for a cookie swap I had with my girlfriends at work. I am the director of a substance abuse prevention center and I have 4 wonderful ladies working for me. They all came over to my house for a gift exchange and cookie swap party and we had such a fun time! Here is the recipe for my peppermint sugar cookies:

1 package Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix

1/2 cup crushed peppermint candies (and some for decorating)

1 tsp peppermint extractpink cookie icing

Mix up the cookies mix as directed on the package but use peppermint extract in place of some of the water it calls for. Add the crushed peppermint candies and stir well. Form dough in to a ball and freeze overnight. Roll frozen dough in to small balls and smash with a fork or smooth glass bottom. Bake for about 10 minutes in a 375 degree oven. After cooled drizzle with pink cookie icing and sprinkle with crushed peppermints. My cookies ended up being kind of crispy so if you want them to be softer don't cook them as long.

They were a big hit at the party and we are still enjoying the leftovers!

I also wanted to share this delicious PINK hot chocolate with you. You can find the recipe on Rebecca's blog here. It is so delicious and so pretty in the cup! I added pink peppermint marshmallows to mine and it is heavenly! You have to try it!

James and I made these darling gingerbread sugar cookies and pink cocoa for Maggie and Lucie last night. We let them open one of their presents early last night, then we had cookies, cocoa, and a Christmas story. It was a sweet night.

Now I would like to take you through a tour of my sweet Christmas cottage. I think the pictures speak for themselves so I will just let you look!!!

This obviously is the bedroom. I used some bright pink in here and I just love it!

Isn't this shelf just sweet!

This little arrangement can be found in my tiny hallway, if you can even call it that.

I just love everything about this picture! Looks like it belongs in the Christmas edition of Romantic Homes or Romantic County to me!

Here is my sweet Christmas candy bar. I made practically everything on this display besides the glass jars - but I decorated them too!

A sweet shelf by my front door. I love this pretty angel!

My favorite shelf in the house. I adore everything on this shelf and I love how pretty each items is when I brought them all together.

Here is my beautiful Christmas fireplace mantle. I will probably cry when I take all these decorations down. I just love them so much!

Aren't these sweet love birds just darling? They are the focal point of my mantle this year to remind us that Christmas is about LOVE.

Here is the tree in my kitchen. I think it is just as beautiful as the tree in my living room. It has a lot of dusty pink, ivory, and silver on it. It looks more vintage and it has a lot of angel ornaments on it. It is my angel tree. I love angels!

Here is my china hutch all dressed up for Christmas! It has a lot of angels in it too!

I absolutely love my table scape this year with the pink, ivory, and silver. My favorite part is the centerpiece "Mr. Debonair" snowman with his silver top hat. I know I will treasure him for many years to come.

I want to wish each one of you and your family the most blessed Christmas and a wonderful and prosperous New Year! I am looking forward to spending some time with my family this weekend and then some time off from work the next week to relax! I hope you enjoy spending some time with your family as well!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

I wanted to share some more of my beautiful Christmas creations. I have had so much fun making all of these beautiful things for the holiday season.These first few items are ornaments with pockets on the back to stick a gift card or some money in. I made one for each of my employees and for some of my relatives too!

Here is a sweet tree I made from a foam tree form and some tulle. It was a lot of hard work and I felt like I would never be finished gathering tulle to get it finished. I think it turned out beautifully!

Here is a darling old post office box that I found at an antique store several months ago. The label at the top says "post" and has six post office boxes that are numbered. When I bought it she was an ugly brown color and now it is pretty in pink!

This NOEL sign was red and green with brown pine cones stuck on it. I painted it pink and covered it with scrapbook paper and glitter.

My mom made this pillow and gave it to me a long time ago. I decided to make it a Christmas pillow so I sewed some pink jingle bells and ribbon on the corner, then made a post card to put in the pocket! I just love how sweet it turned out!

Isn't the post card so sweet?

I made this wreath from a foam form (say that 5 times fast) and some more gathered tulle.

Isn't the pink birdie so sweet?

This is a napkin ring I made for my beautiful Christmas tablescape. I will be showing it to you and all the other decorations in the house next weekend!

This is a topper I made for my tree in the kitchen/dining area. It is my angel tree so the topper had to have an angel on it! I think it turned out lovely.

I bought this church at my favorite candy/gift store in Oklahoma City last week. It was very plain so I added some pearls to the trees and the wreath. isn't it beautiful?

I also bought this wreath and as you can see it is very lovely, but rather plain.

I added some ivory silk ribbon, a snowflake ornament, and that sweet bird and feather nest to decorate it up a bit. I think it is prettier now.

I started making this garland at my mom's house on Thanksgiving day. I finished it the next day. I made it from old dictionary pages, silver tinsel garland, pearl garland, and tulle. It matches my decor perfectly.

Christmas is a magical time so I made this sweet sign to remind all who enter my cottage to WISH!

After I got my living room decorated for Christmas I realized that I didn't have any stockings that were going to work, so I made some! They are just amazing and I am so proud of how beautifully they turned out. This one is for James.

This is my stocking. I love the beautiful image on it and the handmade ribbon poinsettia. Isn't it just gorgeous?

Here are some little Santa figurines I bought and wanted to give a makeover. I painted them last night and they are so pretty now!

Don't they look so sweet? I love that they are pink now. I know I will enjoy them for years to come.

I hope you enjoyed my pretty Christmas creations. I wish you a blessed week and hope you are enjoying this magical season.

Laura Ingalls Gunn

Rhondi's Front Porch Party - June 21st, 2010

Where Blogger's Create II - June 19, 2010

About Me

My passion for cooking, decorating, and entertaining lends itself well to the running of our beautiful inn and event hosting business, located in 518 W. Pine in Enid, OK. We host amazing bridal and baby showers, weddings, brunches, tea parties, group meetings, and other events. Most events are customized by me in your theme and colors. Many of the decorations are hand-made by me just for you! The Southard House is my dream come true and I invite you to stay with us to help you rejuvenate your mind, body, and spirit.